Sunday, August 28, 2011

The delicious Chevrolet Corvette Z06

I guess I could do another review of the Corvette Z06, but what’s the point? If you like these cars, there are reviews in every car magazine or Internet website out there. What would you expect to hear? It’s freakin’ fast. You can keep the throttle buried around corners without skeetering out of control or tipping over. You can roast the rear tires all day long. Or until the tires wear out. Whichever comes first. When you drive it, you actually feel like you might be cool, even if you’re a scrawny, glasses-wearing nerd who can’t dance and can barely catch a ball. Not that I would know about that.

But I guess I don’t really need to get into all that. The fact is that when I drove this latest Z06, I loved it as much as any red-blooded American is supposed to love it. It’s an awesome car. I know it, you know it, everybody knows it.

But I’ll go as far as to say that the Corvette’s awesomeness goes beyond its track numbers. Cars that have similar performance, though few and far between, don’t always carry the same street-cred as the Vette, at least in my social circles.

When the Corvette was introduced in 1953, it was a dream car. I mean, it really was called a dream car one year earlier when the conceptual version traveled to the big GM Motorama displays. People weren’t supposed to be able to actually buy something like this. It was just a glimpse into the future. Yet, there it was, driving around out on the street all beautiful and exotic lookin’. Right out there with the regular cars.

Then the fantastic small-block Chevy V8 showed up in ’55, and roll-up windows came along in ’56, and the Sting Ray rocked the country both stylistically and technologically in ’63. Year after year, the Corvette was the object of every real car guy’s fantasies. The older you are, the more of those memories you have. But even young people can’t deny the pull of America’s sports car.

That’s right, America’s sports car. Lots of sporty little numbers come and go. Some of them are pretty cool in their own right. But none of them have the staying power in this country as the Corvette. It is designed by Americans, built by Americans, and caters to what Americans crave—world-class power and finesse at a price that is conceivably attainable to the average person. It was that way more than a half-century ago, and it still holds true today.

If you want all the specs on the Corvette Z06, just do a Google search. You’ll be in information overload in less than a second. But if you’re one of the many people that have always loved Chevrolet’s flagship sports car, I encourage you to drive at least one in your lifetime. And if you really want to live the dream, put Corvette ownership on your bucket list. You’ll be buying more than just fiberglass and aluminum. You’ll become part of the legacy.

The slideshow below has several pictures of the Corvette Z06. Some of them are my photos, or original pictures taken by my co-worker when we drove the Sunset Orange car in Arizona. Others are from General Motors. They all make me determined to earn more money so I can have one of my own.


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